The Philosophy Which Shows the Physiology of Mesmerism and Explains the Phenomenon of Clairvoyance — John Shaqi
The Philosophy Which Shows the Physiology of Mesmerism and Explains the Phenomenon of ClairvoyancePasley, T. H.
Philosophy
The Philosophy Which Shows the Physiology of Mesmerism and Explains the Phenomenon of Clairvoyance
Pasley, T. H.
Mesmerism
_Comatose Flow._--It must have been observed by many persons while
dozing and the body in a sitting or leaning posture, that an agreeable
warm glow arises in the chest, which increases while passing sensibly
through the pectoral towards the gastric region, and which terminates,
insensibly, in the consummation of sleep; from the feet upwards a
similar, but less perceptible, flow takes place. Of this twofold
_comatose flow_, the immediate consequence is polarisation of the
extremities; sleep is a remote, but not the remotest consequence,
when effects similar to those by the flow are mesmerically effected.
Thus it appears that the theory of sleep and magnetism is the same.
The magnetising procedure, however, has this difference; the magnetic
correlatives are drawn from the middle to and out of the extremities of
the bar; those of the body of the patient recede from the extremities
to the central region, leaving one, the correlative of the other, at
each extremity, in both cases.
The foregoing theory of sleep is described from immediate personal
observation. While leaning over a table, the doze heavy, the comatose
flow distinctly felt in its agreeable downward progress through
the chest, when, just at the instant of forgetfulness, the violent
slam of a door drove away all chance of sleep under the following
circumstances: a sensible and sudden revulsion upwards, a few seconds
of giddiness, and a smart painful stroke on the stomach took place,
all in quick succession; which may be accounted for thus: the slam
prevented the correlative fluids from the opposite extremities meeting
centrally; each gushed irregularly back, and depolarized its extremity,
the suddenness of which caused the giddiness. The stroke is the true
electric shock, inflicted by the medium of space suddenly rushing
or falling on the stomach, from which the matter of the comatose
flow had been as suddenly displaced. Taking all circumstances into
consideration, it is manifest that the state of sleep is the result of
a natural magnetizing operation.
Before the fire, while reading, the superior extremity loses electric
matter to the fire, which leaves it polarized and promotes the
comatose flow. The lower extremity becomes polarized simultaneously
with the upper as a correlative consequence. Sleep is supposed to be
expedited by heat; hence the afternoon's nap is seconded by a silk
handkerchief thrown over the head, but which is only a hindrance to
electric matter, similar to that of the comatose flow entering from
the air and depolarizing the extremity. The handkerchief, from being a
non-conductor, only prevents the coming sleep being retarded; it could
neither generate nor multiply heat.
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